''Naval Enna Jewel'' (), titled ''Naval the Jewel'' in English, is a 2017 Indian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

co-written, co-produced and directed by Renjilal Damodaran. It was simultaneously shot in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

and English languages. The film revolves around the lives of a mother and daughter who are victims of ''Arabi kalyanam''. The film stars

Shweta Menon Shwetha Menon (born 23 April 1974) is an Indian actress, model, television anchor and beauty pageant titleholder. She has won '' Femina Miss India Asia Pacific 1994''. She has predominantly acted in Malayalam and Hindi language films, besides ap ...

and Reem Kadem, alongside

Adil Hussain Khandkar Mohammad Adil Hussain (; born 5 October 1963) is an Indian actor who is known for his work in several Indian independent and mainstream film productions, as well as international cinema, in films such as '' The Reluctant Fundamentali ...

Anu Sithara Anu Sithara is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Malayalam films. She has also appeared in some Tamil films. She made her debut in 2013 as a child artist '' Pottas Bomb'' in 2013. Anu is also a trained Bharatanatyam dancer and wel ...

, Alen Matters Cyriac Alencheril, Anjali Nair,

Sudheer Karamana Sudheer Karamana (born 24 May 1971) is an Indian actor who appears mainly in Malayalam cinema. He is the son of actor Karamana Janardanan Nair. Personal life He is the eldest son to actor Karamana Janardanan Nair and Jaya, at Karamana, Thiruv ...

, and

Paris Laxmi Myriam Sophia Lakshmi Quinio (born 16 July 1991), known professionally as Paris Laxmi is a dancer and actress born in France and settled in Kerala, India. With her husband Kathakali dancer Pallippuram Sunil, she runs the Kalashakti School of Art ...

. ''Naval Enna Jewel'' was released in theatres on 18 August 2017. At the

47th Kerala State Film Awards The 47th Kerala State Film Awards were announced by minister A. K. Balan in Thiruvananthapuram on 7 March 2017. The winners in the fiction category were selected by a jury headed by Odisha director A.K. Bir. The other jury members were Priyananda ...

, the film won the Best Makeup Artist for N. G. Roshan. It won two awards at the 2018 Amsterdam International Film Festival—Best Actress (Kadem) and Best Original Score (

Eddie Torres Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – May 31, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, timbalero, and record producer. He composed dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz music. He was also kn ...

). Menon won Best Actress at the 7th Delhi International Film Festival.

Plot

Asma is the eldest daughter in a poor Muslim family in Malabar. Asma is married to a 70-year-old Iranian as his fifth wife. Soon the Iranian dies and Asma becomes a widow with one child. But Asma's daughter Naval gets good education and grew into a progressive woman. Her guardian, Chachu made all this possible. And one day Naval had to kill a man for attempting rape. Naval gets a death sentence for the same. Then it is revealed that Chachu is not a man but Asma. Then the film follows Asma's attempts to help Naval.

Cast

Shwetha Menon Shwetha Menon (born 23 April 1974) is an Indian actress, model, television anchor and beauty pageant titleholder. She has won '' Femina Miss India Asia Pacific 1994''. She has predominantly acted in Malayalam and Hindi language films, besides ap ...

as Asma and Chachu * Reem Kadem as Naval Al Ameer *

as Murshthak Hussain *

* Alen Matters as Aslam *

Manikandan Pattambi Manikandan Pattambi is an Indian television, stage, and film actor. He's best known for his roles in Malayalam television. He became famous for his character ''Sathyasheelan'' in the sitcom '' Marimayam'', a social satire in Mazhavil Manorama ...

* Anjali Nair as Ayisha *

Chali Pala Chalil Babykkuttan better known as Chali Pala is an Indian actor who appears in Malayalam films. He is most known for playing supporting roles in Malayalam films. Biography Pala was born in Thiruvananthapuram. He debuted with the film ''Iyer t ...

as Musaliyar * Renny Johnson as Hussain Babba * Chinnu Korah as Teacher

Production

The film was produced by Cyriac Mathew Alencheril, who also acted in the film under the

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Alen Matters. Renjilal Damodaran, who co-produced and directed the film, co-wrote the screenplay with V. K. Ajith Kumar. The film explores the theme of ''Arabi kalyanam'', a tradition in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

where a minor Muslim girl is married to an older

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

man, leading to her subsequent estrangement. The story was inspired by real-life individuals and incidents.

played one of the main lead roles. She did a makeover to portray an elderly man. For the title role, American actress of Iraqi origin, Reem Kadem was cast. Her character was based on a real

Malayali The Malayali people (; also spelt Malayalee and sometimes known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala and Union Territory of Lakshadweep in India, occupying its south ...

Muslim woman.

played an Iranian government official who speaks Malayalam. The film was shot in

Muscat Muscat (, ) is the capital and most populous city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the population of the Muscat Governorate in 2022 was 1.72 million. ...

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, and some prison scenes in Viyyur,

. Kadem completed her portions in the film by April 2016. The film was simultaneously shot in Malayalam and English, requiring actors to enact the same scene twice in both languages while filming.

Soundtrack

The film soundtrack consist of three Malayalam songs and one English song. Music of Malayalam songs was composed by M Jayachandran, with lyrics by Rafeeq Ahammed and Kavyamayi Renjilal. The fourth song is by Eddie Torres and Ashley Garland.

Reception

Critical response

Meera Manu of ''

Deccan Chronicle ''Deccan Chronicle'' is an English-language daily newspaper based in Hyderabad, India. Founded in 1938, it was initially launched as a Weekly newspaper, weekly and later converted into a daily. The newspaper's name reflects its origins in the ...

'' rated 3.5 out of 5 stars and stated, "the movie simply reminds us no matter how loud we boast about freedom, for women it is a far cry". Asha Praksh of ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'' gave 2.5 out of 5 stars, and wrote that "the film does have a brilliant story, no doubt, with an unpredictable twist at the end but the way it is executed leaves a lot to be desired", adding that the film would have been better if it had "stuck consistently to a realistic mode of story-telling sans drama".

Awards

At the

, the film won the Best Makeup Artist for N. G. Roshan. At the 2018 Amsterdam International Film Festival, the film was nominated for Best Feature Film (Renjilal), Best Original Score (Eddie Tores), Best Actress (Kadem), and Best Supporting Actress (Menon). It won two awards—Best Actress (Kadem) and Best Original Score (

). It was screened at the

Boston International Film Festival The Boston International Film Festival is a film festival in the United States held in Boston, Massachusetts which showcases over 90 films annually. Established in 2003 by film producer Patrick Jerome, the festival features independent films from ...

. Menon won Best Actress at the 7th Delhi International Film Festival.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 6095014
Official Facebook Page
2017 films 2010s Malayalam-language films Indian drama films English-language Indian films Films shot in Kannur Films shot in Thalassery Films shot in Kozhikode Films set in Iran 2017 drama films